Bulky, heavy, ugly and decidedly unsexy to look at it might have been (especially the early models), but the Mellotron carved out its own niche in the progressive rock scene in the late 60s and early 70s, to the extent that it arguably became the signature sound in the genre, used extensively and popularised by the likes of Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Barclay James Harvest, Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues, Focus, Tangerine Dream and countless other prog bands.
Manufactured in Birmingham, beginning in the mid-60s, the Mellotron is a keyboard instrument that works by playing tapes of pre-recorded sounds, the tapes driven across tape heads by motors triggered by pressing keys on the keyboard. Imagine a bank of tape machines, with the ‘play’ button of each linked individually to the keys of a keyboard. Effectively, the Mellotron was the first sampler.
